Thursday, April 4, 2013

The SCIF 2014 Conservation Artist of the Year painting

Named the Safari Club International Foundation 2014 Conservation Artist of the Year means that I will be doing a big, yes very big painting for the 2014 Convention in Las Vegas.

The subject is caribou, one of my favorite and an animal I have spent time with in the wild. My closest encounter with them was in a remote part of Labrador, Canda.
For weeks I have been combing through my reference, thinking, and then revisiting my concept over and over again. By the time I finally worked out my composition, I had reviewed hundreds and hundreds of photos I had taken on that trip and other trips in caribou country and had gone through my various notes.

One of my first thoughts was that caribou are known for their impressive migrations. Painting one or two of them seemed to deny them this aspect.
So, #1 - paint a number of caribou.
Next, a bunch of caribou without action or pending action could be boring.
#2 - pending action.
Caribou live in specatular country. Why not show it off?
#3 - use landscape to accentuate the story

I'll be referencing dozens of my photos as guides and you can see a few of them below as I work on the drawing. As I sketch, I correct the deficiencies in my photos so I will have accurate anatomical drawings as a basis for my painting.

With the composition set (as much as it ever is at this stage), it was time to determine the size. I knew the painting would be big, but why not make it really big! Using the aspect ratio I had determined for the composition, I decided to make the piece 34" X 78".

A painting that big will require some modifications to my easel. Stay tuned.